Jurors in the sexual assault trial of celebrity comedian Bill Cosby have entered their fifth day of deliberation over charges that he drugged and then molested a woman in 2004.
On Thursday, jurors told a judge they were deadlocked and could not come to a unanimous decision on Cosby’s guilt in any of the three counts of aggravated indecent assault levied against him.
The jurors have deliberated for 40 hours already and it is unclear exactly what the deadlock is about. Judge Steven O’Neill has not said how long he is prepared to wait on the jury to make a decision.
The jury seemed exasperated at times over the course of the week as it repeatedly asked the judge for clarifications of evidence or to hear testimony from the trial again.
O’Neill told the jurors other judges may not have granted their six requests to revisit evidence from the trial, but since he granted their first request, he felt obligated to fulfill the rest because he didn’t want them to think some pieces of evidence were more important than others.
“From now on when you ask for testimony, I am compelled to give it to you,” he said Wednesday night.
O’Neill told the jurors Thursday to continue discussing the charges in the jury room after the panel told him they could not agree on Cosby’s guilt.
The 79-year-old Cosby is charged with drugging and assaulting Andrea Constand, a former director of operations of the Temple University women’s basketball team.
He allegedly gave her pills that paralyzed her and left her unable to resist when he started touching her in his Philadelphia home.
If found guilty, Cosby could go to prison for the rest of his life.
More than 50 women claim Cosby sexually assaulted them in incidents dating back to the 1960s, when he emerged as a major comedy star. Most of the alleged incidents occurred too long ago to be prosecuted now.
Constand’s complaint is the only one that has come to trial. Cosby has denied all the charges.
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